Get “The Wrap,” our take on the news of the week, in your inbox every Tuesday. Sign up at: https://capemaycountyherald.com/newsletter-subscription/
Aug. 26 to Sept. 1
Electricity Prices
It seems we cannot get away from the topic of electricity prices. Representative Jeff Van Drew is calling on the state Board of Public Utilities to hold public hearings on the subject. State Sen. Michael Testa and three Republican colleagues from Atlantic County are urging legislative hearings. Atlantic City Electric is providing inconsistent information on the specific level of rate hikes in the last year.
On Aug. 1 the company acknowledged that the last year saw an 18% increase in electricity rates. On Aug. 28, Exelon, the parent company of ACE, confirmed the 18% figure. Then, on Aug. 30, ACE sent a new communication to customers, saying the hikes in the last year amounted to 20%. This is unusual in a business where any change in the rates charged to customers goes through a review and approval process with the BPU. So why would they not know exactly what rate changes went into effect in a specific period?
Van Drew and Testa both don’t believe these numbers from ACE, arguing that large numbers of customers have called their offices to say bills have doubled or worse since the summer of 2023. The utility blames record heat and higher levels of use.
It is only going to get worse. The most recent wholesale electricity rates for a 13-state area that includes New Jersey soared tenfold over the wholesale prices at the 2023 auction. These new auction rates will impact retail rates in 2025.
Industrywide we hear about the dramatic rise in electric power use due to mammoth data centers running artificial intelligence software. We also see rising demand due to federal and state policies that are trying to force a retreat from fossil fuel.
Jason Shaw of the Georgia Public Service Commission says the situation has “created a challenge like we have never seen before.” Prices have or soon will begin to reflect these realities, with residential ratepayers stuck with the bill.
Delays in hitting targets for power generation from green sources are also forcing power generators to turn back to fossil fuel plants, many of which were on their way to being decommissioned. According to the Energy Information Administration, New Jersey consumes much more electric energy than it produces, drawing power from other states via the regional grid.
A failure to better match demand and supply will impact prices everywhere in an interdependent power grid.
Adult Drowning Numbers
The Centers for Disease Control reports that the number of drownings in the country is increasing, with adult drowning deaths seeing the biggest rise. The increase in drowning deaths is a reversal of a two-decade-long trend where such deaths were decreasing.
More than 4,500 people lost their lives in drowning accidents in 2022, the most recent year for which we have data. More than 70% of them were adults. The CDC study says that unintentional drowning deaths among adults increased in every adult age group.
No one is quite sure why the increases are happening, but there are some interesting potential correlations. Since the pandemic more people have been recreating outside, including at Shore points. Also, the sale of boats has increased, putting more, and potentially more inexperienced, people on the water.
What makes the rise in adult drownings of special interest to ocean resort communities is the difference between children and adults in where drownings occur. Most kids drown in bathtubs or pools. Adult deaths are more frequently linked to natural bodies of water like the ocean. Many who are only visitors to ocean towns remain unconvinced of the hidden dangers the ocean can produce, including, in these days of increased storm activity, rip currents, even when the ocean appears calm.
The statistics also show a correlation with alcohol consumption and boating accidents. The Coast Guard says 564 individuals lost their lives to drowning following boating accidents last year.
Roughly 75% of adult drowning deaths are men and boys who engage in risk-taking activities. A New Zealand study says males are much more likely to overestimate how far they can swim and to consider their swimming capabilities to be stronger than they are. Swimming alone and away from lifeguards also correlates strongly with adult drownings.
Experts say drowning prevention has been too focused on children. Assuming that adults will be sensible has not been a winning bet.
Era of Extreme Heat Is Here
Heat records are being broken across the globe, and by shockingly high margins. Scientists say that it is almost certain that 2024 will replace 2023 as the hottest year since records have been kept.
According to one study, a 1-in-1,000-years heat wave as recently as five years ago is quickly becoming a 1-in-40-years heat event.
New Jersey, after all of its focus on sea level rise and intense rain events, this year released an extreme heat resiliency action plan. The impact of extreme heat has come to center stage after spending time as a less considered consequence of climate change.
More scientists have begun to investigate the issue of runaway heat records. Even areas that are not yet experiencing destabilizing heat events are impacted by them, particularly through agriculture and energy consumption.
In 2024 Las Vegas broke its previous daily heat record, reaching 120 degrees. Unlikely locations like Agness, Oregon, hit 115 degrees, and Morrisville, North Carolina, saw 106 degrees.
When one scientist saw the number of local records being broken worldwide last September, his reaction, as reported in the Insurance Journal, was highly unscientific. He called it “absolutely gobsmackingly bananas.”
Happenings
Roughly a dozen residents who spoke at an Aug. 28 forum on the school district’s $26.5 million bonding referendum were almost uniformly against the bond issue and the tax increase that would result.
Beacon Animal Rescue reopened this summer after being shut down by the Cape May County Health Department in March due to unsanitary conditions and other violations.
Avalon has opened bids for the Bay Side Marina project, finding the low bid was 18% below the town’s engineering estimate. The $8.6 million bid came from Fred M. Schiavone Construction of Malaga, the firm responsible for the construction of Surfside Park, a popular destination in the borough.
A woman lying on a Wildwood beach suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries when a Police Department pickup truck ran over her on Wednesday, Aug. 28.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew and South Jersey Republican state legislators are calling for investigations of electricity rate increases by Atlantic City Electric.
A U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state visited the city Aug. 27 to learn more about how the J-1 visa program is working under one of the region’s largest employers of international student workers.
Joe Salerno, a local businessman and Democrat who is challenging Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew for the 2nd Congressional District seat, says the House of Representatives needs members who are pragmatic.
Two Stone Harbor Borough Council seats and the mayor’s chair are open in the Nov. 5 general election; the council seats are uncontested, but two candidates, Council member Tim Carney and local businessman Robert Ross, are competing for the mayoralty.
Contrary to initial fears that the Middle Thorofare Bridge might be closed for weeks after the drawbridge motor failed Aug. 17, the Cape May County Bridge Commission was able to reopen it within a few days after locating a new motor.
Two experts gave reports on the borough’s finances at a work session of the Stone Harbor Borough Council. Michael Garcia, Stone Harbor’s external auditor, and Rick Richardella, leader of a state team from the Department of Community Affairs, gave the presentations.
After the announcement on Friday, Aug. 9, that the Wonderland Pier in Ocean City would close after this season, disappointed community members responded with a petition drive in an effort to keep it open and prevent the possible construction of a “mega hotel” at the site at 600 Boardwalk.
Four candidates are vying in the Nov. 5 election for a Cape May City Council seat that opened when Michael Yeager decided to step down. Mayor Zach Mullock is running for reelection this year unopposed.
A 90-foot fishing vessel, the F/V Jersey Cape, out of Lund’s Fisheries, lost power Friday evening Aug. 30 and became pinned against the Middle Thorofare Bridge, resulting in the span’s being closed for about 10 hours overnight while the vessel was being freed. The crew was reported as shaken up but uninjured.
Spout Off of the Week
Wildwood – It is the families who come to Wildwood and bring 3 or 4 cars. Remember when everyone piled in the car and came down for the week? (Online comment: “With the dog across our laps.”) Those days are gone, we have created our own problems.
Read more spouts at spoutoff.capemaycountyherald.com.
